Area colleges hit or miss in public access to crime logs

By Brian Lee Telegram & Gazette Staff

Sunday

Mar 11, 2018 at 1:00 AMMar 11, 2018 at 9:07 AM

Colleges and universities that receive federal financial assistance are required to provide access to their daily campus crime logs. However, a recent survey by reporters at 17 institutions in the area at times found spotty compliance with federal and state laws.

Massachusetts law requires colleges and universities that employ special police officers to make their crime logs available to the public during regular business hours and at all other reasonable times.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, a campus crime log must be accessible on site, with the most recent 60-day period to be open to public inspection, free of charge, upon request, during normal business hours. Schools cannot require a written request, and the Department of Education says "anyone may have access to the log, whether or not they are associated with your institution.”

Alison Kiss, executive director of the Clery Center in Pennsylvania, said the center has found that there have been compliance issues because of a lack of capacity or understanding of the law.

"When you’re wanting to look at a public crime log," she said it’s important to differentiate whether the institution didn't provide it because they’re trying to hide it, or because they don’t know they need to.

“It’s almost the example of intentionally speeding or speeding by accident, so to speak," she said.

But she also noted that there's more openness today about what the Clery Act is. The largest Clery Act fine was more than $2.3 million against Pennsylvania State University in 2016, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

In April, the U.S. Department of Education increased fines to $54,789 per violation of the Clery Act.

At Framingham State University, the daily logs for the campus police department are printed at the end of each shift, according to Police Chief Bradford Medeiros. The logs were located in a large binder on the counter next to the service window when a Daily News reporter went to the campus police office on Wednesday morning.

"The law is pretty clear," Medeiros said. "It's required by Massachusetts General law statue. We really want to be transparent about it."

The chief added the federal Clery Act also requires the department to follow certain reporting procedures, which is another reason to print and display the daily log.

"It will always be available while I am chief," Medeiros said.

He added a number of people come in and ask to look at it. He said if someone wanted a copy, his staff is instructed to comply with the request.

At Regis College in Weston Wednesday morning, a Daily News staffer asked to see the police log. The dispatcher was pleasant, went into an adjoining office and returned with a thick binder that holds a few months' worth of police logs. He gave it to the reporter, but the log for the previous day was missing. The reporter was told the administrative officer usually makes a copy of it when he comes in at 8 a.m. each day but because of the bad weather he was late. The officer asked the reporter to come back later and the log would be available once the administrative officer updated it. The police were courteous and did not ask any questions.

At Dean College in Franklin Tuesday, a reporter who identified himself only as a citizen was denied access to the daily crime log.

An officer at the Campus Safety Department said that information is generally not given to the public, and asked the requester to identify himself, where he lives and why the records were being requested.

When told about the law that says the records must be available to the public, he claimed the law does not pertain to private schools. He spoke with a supervisor before returning and stating that the records are internal information and could not be given out.

Later in the week, the reporter contacted Gary Convertino, vice president of organizational effectiveness and chief human resources officer for Dean College, who said the school makes those reports available under the Clery Act, including one that lists all incidents in the last two months. In response to the denied request for that information, he said he thinks public safety officers understand the law but misunderstood what specifically the reporter asked to see.

"By all means, the Clery report log certainly, that is available to you."

When a reporter returned to Dean College Friday and requested to see the log, a campus safety officer promptly provided a binder with reports dating to mid-January. On this second visit, the records were given without questions for identification or other information. The officer only asked what days the reporter wanted to see.

Nichols College in Dudley keeps its daily crime log in a binder located near the on-duty security officer.

Campus security Officer Sean McLoud denied a request to see it just before 5 p.m. Feb. 16.

A reporter cited the Clery Act, but was told by the officer to make arrangements at a later date through the Nichols College director of campus security. The reporter did not identify himself as a member of the media.

"We don't even know who you are," Officer McLoud said. After the requester stated his name, the officer asked the requester to produce a photo identification.

Elsewhere, an inquirer walked away empty-handed from Worcester State University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute during recent visits.

Area schools took varied approaches for maintaining their crime logs. The College of Holy Cross and Assumption College in Worcester kept logs in binders. Others, such as UMass Medical School, provided a copy for the requester to keep.

At a handful of schools, the requester was peppered with questions about who he was, and why he wanted to see the log, before school authorities eventually gave access to them.

A requester went back to Nichols College five days later, early in the afternoon Feb. 21. That time, a different security officer handed the requester a binder that contained the crime log. He didn't ask any questions.

Jack Caulfield, director of public safety at Nichols College, was asked about the vastly different responses.

Caulfield suggested that Officer McLoud and the requester misunderstood one another. When the requester questioned that explanation, given his citing of the federal law, the director said:

“I’m just telling you what my guy told me. He said you asked for the log journal,” a document that contains private security information that the school is not obligated to provide.

“Any time at all, my people are instructed that, if anybody wants to the see the daily crime journal, or the fire log, they can,” Caulfield said by phone.

Caulfield said he couldn’t explain why the security officer asked for ID. He said he would address the issue with his staff.

“If there is confusion, we’ll certainly straighten it out,” he said.

A week after Caulfield spoke to the newspaper, a Nichols College public relations official issued a statement that suggested the school was not obligated to provide access to the crime log on Feb. 16 because the T&G asked for the document at 4:37 p.m., which is after the department’s normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

When a reporter shared a link to the college’s public safety webpage that said its hours were noon to midnight, the spokeswoman, Lorraine Martinelle, said the webpage was wrong. She had it changed on March 5.

Martinelle referred to the actual hours that are posted on page 11 of a 47-page annual security report uploaded onto the school’s website.

Page 11 of the report said the crime log will be made available upon request.

A reporter also requested the daily crime log from Officer McLoud at 4:15 p.m. March 2. Officer McLoud handed the requester the binder without asking any questions.

The school’s statement made no mention of Officer McLoud granting that "after hours" request.

Prior to Nichols issuing the statement, Caulfield told the paper that access to the daily crime log "should be made available to you as soon as we can," including at night.

"Now there are sometimes… at night (when) our manning is very low," he said. "We could be out answering calls. You can call them and ask… and when we get back, we’ll produce it for you.”

At Worcester State University, when the same request was made at University Police in Wasylean Hall, a requester was redirected to a different building to see Nancy Ramsdell, who handles public records requests for the school.

Ramsdell was not in her office when a reporter went there the afternoon of Feb. 16. But she was in her office and granted the request when a reporter returned on Feb. 21. Ramsdell filled out a records form for the requester and emailed the crime log a short time later.

Renae Lias Claffey, a WSU spokeswoman, explained that the log wasn’t available at University Police because of a switch in software that will eventually make the daily log available online.

Until very recently, Claffey said, WSU was able to provide at University Police an electronic log report that redacted students’ private information covered under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and other student privacy laws.

“That's where we were at the point in time you came in,” she said. “Once the system is fully implemented, we fully expect to be able to produce that electronically once again.”

Given the T&G's experience, Claffey said WSU immediately moved to a manual system while in this interim period between old and new software systems. It will yield a paper copy of a redacted log report at University Police, she said.

At WPI, the institution failed to produce its campus crime log upon request on Feb. 16.

A dispatcher asked the requester why he needed to see it and for the requester’s contact information so that someone could get back get back to him.

The dispatcher then asked, “Are you working with a company, or do you want it for your own curiosity?“ The requester said he just wanted the information.

WPI Deputy Police Chief Stephen C. Marsh called the following Monday and made arrangements to meet with the requester on Feb. 21, at which point he provided access to the crime log and explained that the department was in the middle of a medical call that it couldn’t pull itself from on Feb. 16.

Marsh noted the infrequency with which the crime log is requested. He said he couldn’t remember another time someone had asked to look at it.

Caulfield of Nichols College expressed a similar sentiment.

“I’ve been up here 12 years, and it’s the second time it’s been asked for,” he said.

He said Nichols College promotes the availability of the log.

“When we speak to freshmen parents during orientation, we mention it to them,” Caulfield said. “But the last time someone asked for it was probably four or five years ago, when someone from the T&G asked for it. I don’t know why. As a parent, to me, if I were going to send my kid up to school, it’s almost one of the first things I’d want to know.”

Becker College in Worcester was one of several institutions that provided immediate access to the log without asking any questions upon first request.

"We teach them what the expectations are, and we make sure that people understand it’s there because it’s a document that’s supposed to help educate our community."

At Assumption College in Worcester, a sergeant asked the requester for his name and where he was from, despite directions in the crime log binder that read: “Do not ask why the person wants it or who they are. This is a violation and could result in sanctions against the college.”

The sergeant said she was filling in for the person who normally maintains the crime log binder.

Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said he sees a problem with public record laws, in general, with respect to "the inconsistency of which the law is actually followed."

He said the infrequency of requests isn't an excuse for the institutions.

"It might be good to note that there may not be any bad intentions at play here," Silverman said. "But ultimately, the law requires these crime reports to be released and complied with. If you have staff members that are rusty or unfamiliar with the law, or need additional training, it’s the responsibility of the university to provide that training and make sure that the law is complied with. It helps to get that explanation of why you’re not getting those reports. But it’s an explanation, not an excuse."

The U.S. Department of Education conducts compliance checks. According to the Clery Center's Kiss, the government will check after receiving a complaint, or based on media reports.

"It’s a consumer protection law and the purpose is for transparency,” Kiss said. “So if an institution doesn’t have a crime log that’s accessible, or isn’t publishing an annual security report, I think that what we’ve seen, particularly in the last seven years, are students holding their institutions accountable. It’s certainly something that institutions should prioritize," Kiss explained.